Zeek Rewards Was it Really a Ponzi Scheme?

Even though this company is no longer in service, I put it up because there are copycat companies sprouting about which I will help you avoid. This page will help you learn why Zeek Rewards was a ponzi scheme and how to avoid other companies like it.

The Latest On Zeek Rewards. Was It A Ponzi Scheme Or Really Legit?

Since late August of 2012, the popular and tremendously controversial Zeek Rewards website was shut down by the SEC under claims it was running a ponzi scheme to the tune of at least $600 million dollars. This page will review what Zeek Rewards was, how it worked, companies which used/use the same model of business and ways to avoid falling for another potential Zeek Rewards “scam”.

Although I will try to be as abstract as possible when reviewing Zeek Rewards, I have placed it in the “Places to Avoid” section because I firmly believe ANY organization that claims you can easily make money online is a scam or hiding something from you and I believe Zeek Rewards truly was a ponzi scheme.

If You Are A Former Member…

Before I review any further, if you were a member of Zeek Rewards and lost money through it, you need to contact the official Zeek Rewards Receivership website to file a claim and hopefully get your money back. Here is the receivership site. You can also get the latest on Zeek Rewards there. Up until today, over a 100,000 claims against this organization have been made.

What Zeek Rewards Was In A Nutshell:

Zeek Rewards is a tough organization to dissect due to it’s complex business model, so this explanation will use layman’s terms to clarify everything you need to know about this organization. Keep in mind that this explanation is based off the claims Zeek Rewards made about itself and it may all be complete BS because of the SEC’s claim against it. Never the less, here is their business model explained:

Firstly, Zeek Rewards was partnered with a company called Zeekler which was a website that supposedly auctioned off 1000s of different items on a daily basis at dirt cheap prices. While Zeekler handled the items and auctions, Zeek Rewards job was to send people to Zeekler to buy things. The more people that were sent to Zeekler’s auctions, the more potential profits the company could make everyday. The total profit on a daily basis would then be split between both companies.

Zeek Rewards in order to send visitors to Zeekler amassed members to create daily ads for Zeekler that would then supposedly be put on the internet, attract visitors and potentially make them customers. In return for the services of members, Zeek Rewards promised to split each day’s earnings it and Zeekler would make between it’s members. And that’s where the main incentive to join this organization came into play.

How Members “Made Money” Through Zeek Rewards:

Zeek Rewards in order to allow members to collect a piece of their daily profits required members to invest money into the organization. The more you invested into the company, the more you potentially make back.

The money you put into the organization was turned into “points” which would then accumulate via daily profits as well as other incentives such as an affiliate program people could funnel others into the program and get a piece of their investments as well.

Here is an example:

John invests $1,000 into Zeek Rewards.

This is turned into 1,000 points.

Then Zeek Rewards reports that for a single day of auctioning, Zeekler & itself had made say a 1% profit.

This 1% profit would then be added to the total points the member had.

This means John after a day would have 1,010 points.

The next day if another 1% profit was made, he would then have 1,020 points.

Points were also given out for referring new members to Zeek Rewards through their affiliate program where the affiliates would get up to 10% of the referrers investment.

Here is an interesting kicker. Whatever money you put into Zeek Rewards COULD not be taken out. This meant in order to break even, you’d have to wait out the profits and let the points you put to double. This meant John who put in $1,000 and got 1,000 points could only break even and take out a $1,000 if he got up to 2,000 points.

Furthermore the incentive to stay with the program would constantly be hovering over you because the more points you accumulated, the more monetary value they would have.

Ex: If you started with 1,000 points, then got up to 5,000 points eventually meant that a 1% profit on a daily basis would rake you $50 everyday instead of $10 if you had a 1,000 points. Thus the person who would have 5,000 points would likely keep them, not take them out in exchange for money hoping the points would continue to accumulate and thus earn more money in the long run. Very clever, yet at the same time VERY shady!

Because money could supposedly be so easily made with this company, it was simple to get new members to join and pluck down hard earned money. After all, the process of making money through this program was VERY simple, but took time so it wasn’t uncommon for people who were in school or retired individuals and even rich families to throw down several $1,000 to get going.

Thus the membership levels swelled to what is now estimated to be over a million. Each of these people invested money into the program which is when the SEC stepped in…

Putting It All Together. Was It A Ponzi Scheme All Along?

The SEC claims the MLM sytem (multi-level-marketing) system under which Zeek Rewards operated through was a ponzi scheme. They claimed there were no actual daily profits being made by this program, and the points system was an illusion to keep people thinking they had money coming in.

The SEC also claimed that whenever members wanted to withdraw money from their accounts at Zeek Rewards, that money was actually being taken out of a giant pool of other people’s investments.

When looking at the business model Zeek Rewards functioned under, it’s very easy to see that it was a ponzi scheme. Not to mention the fact that in my experience in dealing with online marketing that whenever some kind of company claims to help you make money easily, alarm bells should be going off because there is no such thing.

The company was not only a ponzi scheme, but also a pyramid scheme. You would be referring others to this program and get a piece of their investments. When you combine that referring multiple people means a steady line of income monthly, you have an incentive to keep doing that, but the model is CLEARLY a pyramid scheme and completely unethical because the services offered by Zeek Rewards were NULL. There is no product, only an illusion!

I was personally approached by my own family member and offered to join. I said I’d think about it and upon further investigation decided NOT to promote them. I’m glad I didn’t because my skepticism was proven right. Shame on all the people who did promote Zeek Rewards and knew about it’s shady business dealings. I have no problem with people who promoted this company and didn’t know about it’s true methods of operation.

Attention! Copycat Companies Have Been Sprouting Since Zeek Rewards Downfall! Here’s How To Spot Them!

Since the fall of Zeek Rewards, other companies have been popping up across the internet promising to do the same thing Zeek Rewards did “Without the shadiness”. They have been advertising to people who still have hopes that Zeek Rewards will return and be in business again and unfortunately many people have been falling for it, again and again.

Do NOT fall for this scam! Any company which says it is similar to Zeek Rewards is an absolute scam. Don’t let the photo shopped profit pictures lure you in! Don’t let the promises of easy money get to you! You can make money through the internet, but never through these companies. They are a house of cards waiting to fall!

Final Rating On Zeek Rewards:

0 Out of 10 stars. This is the worst rated program I’ve ever seen. Downright ponzi/pyramid scheme. See #1 recommendation.

All online money making companies on Howtomakehonestmoneyonline.com are rated on a 1-10 scale with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. The company was a downright scam and doesn’t even deserve 1 star! It’s promises were too good to be true and it was discovered just how shady their business dealings were. Watch out for any other company who says they’ll do the same thing for you as Zeek Rewards did.

Final Thoughts On Zeek Rewards

I’ve learned 2 things from Zeek Rewards:

1. People will easily be lured again and again into joining a company which promises them easy money: Please do not let false promises of riches get to you. You can make a lot of money through the internet, but NOT through places like Zeek Rewards. Zeek Rewards like companies will always come and go and so will people who keep falling prey to their promises, but if you know what to look for such as the tips recommended above, you will save yourself money, time and stress and not become another statistic!

2. There is NO such thing as making fast, easy money unless it’s through some sort of unethical or illegal activity: Easy money only applies to the predators who prey on the unsuspecting with their scam products.

Again you CAN make a lot of money through the internet, but it takes proper guidance and action and if you utilize both, you will see incredible results. If you want to make money through the internet, learn the real deal here!

Do you have a Zeek Rewards story you’d like to share? Please post it here!